Friday, November 11, 2011

Chili Weather

It's that time of year again. Time to break out the jeans, hoodies, scarves and toboggans (and no, I don't mean sled, I mean hat, so don't give me a dirty look when I ask why you're not wearing a toboggan). Time for football, hockey, fire pits...but more importantly, time for warming foods. Soups, stews, hot chocolate, and chili. Yes, chili.

We can debate forever about how to make chili. Some use beans, some don't. Some use ground beef, some use chunks of beef. But no matter how you make it, the fact is, chili is delicious in any way, shape or form. You got your Texas chili, your Cincinnati chili, you can serve your chili over spaghetti, with oyster crackers or with Fritos. Do what you want with your chili. This is my blog and so this is my chili.

Here's What You Do:
Notice I do not have a "Here's What You Need" section...because I just make it. I throw a bunch of stuff in a pot and I taste it and add to it, and taste it and add to it, until it's JUST RIGHT.

Take a pound of ground beef and brown it in a big pot, then drain it. Add in a diced onion, medium sized will do and cook until soft. Add in about 3 cloves of minced garlic and cook until fragrant. Never brown garlic. It makes everything bitter. Add your ground beef back into the pot. Open a can of Hunt's tomatoes, diced and add them in. Open a can of Hunt's tomato sauce (I could drink this shit) add it to the pot. Open a can of kidney beans (rinse them off first, their juice makes you gassy, and unless you're in a farting contest, you don't want to have gas with your delicious bowl of chili). Add in about a tablespoon of garlic powder, a teaspoon of oregano, a teaspoon of chili powder, and teaspoon of cayenne, a dash of Sriracha, because I'm a Sriracha slut, about a teaspoon of salt and a teaspoon of pepper, and a few sprinkles of cumin (I don't LOVE cumin, so I only add a touch). Now stir this all together and simmer for about 20 minutes on low heat. Taste it, add in what you like, I usually end up adding in more salt and garlic powder.

Once you get it tasting like heaven and cooked to your consistency (if you like thicker chili, simmer at a higher heat), put your chili in a bowl, top with cheese, sliced scallions and a dollop of sour cream. I eat mine with tortilla chips, like it's a dip. Eat up. And don't let people tell you your chili isn't authentic. Chili is one of those meals like jambalaya. You put in it what you have on hand. It's never wrong. As long as it tastes good to you, you're good to go. Screw the haters.